Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary Eurowings has announced its plans to start long-haul services from October 25, 2015, with flights initially departing from Cologne/Bonn Airport.
Eurowings will initially operate long-haul routes to Dubai, Bangkok, Phuket, Varadero and Punta Cana using two of its Airbus A330 widebodies, and will grow to a fleet of seven long-range planes in addition to its short-haul jets. All the routes will be served on a twice weekly basis: you can view the full flight schedules on our Airline Route blog post.
“We see strong demand for low-cost, long-haul travel in the coming years,” said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, chief executive of Lufthansa.
"Our new Eurowings strategy is to strengthen our position in point-to-point traffic. The new Eurowings will tackle on long-haul routes with a new brand launch, affordable ticket prices and an attractive route network," he added
Eurowings will introduce two more A330s in summer 2016, followed by a further two aircraft in the subsequent winter period. The last of its seven aircraft will arrive during the summer of 2017, and all will be leasedfrom GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS).
The widebody jets will feature 310 seats with different service options. All planes will feature in-flight Wi-Fi.
"Our customers rightly expect a high standard of quality from us. With Germanwings, we have demonstrated that we can successfully connect low prices with good quality. We will continue to fulfil this aim in the expanded route network of the new Eurowings as well,” added Garnadt.
Vienna was recently named as the first European base for Eurowings outside Germany where it will station two of the Airbus A320 narrowbody planes being introduced to replace Bombardier regional jets on European flights. Other European bases are being sought, including in Switzerland.